Bright Sword: Starting from the Improved Grenade

Time flies by like a white horse.

With the help of the villagers in Xingjiazhuang, all the factories were completed in just one week, with only some cement buildings still waiting to solidify.

“It’s finally finished. It wasn’t easy!”

Li Yuncai sighed as he smelled the fresh fragrance of the wood.

"Don't be happy too soon. The next step is to improve the fire prevention of the factory. The factory is built of wood, so don't let it catch fire."

Zhao Tianyang reminded.

"Hehe, don't worry, Director. I've already made preparations. Every factory is equipped with a manual water pump, water gun, bucket, basin, and fine sand. I've prepared everything that can be used to put out a fire."

Li Yuncai said confidently: "And I also plan to let the employees set up a factory fire brigade."

"We use our break time to learn firefighting knowledge, and prohibit everyone from smoking in the factory, and do everything possible to eliminate fire factors."

"sure!"

Zhao Tianyang looked at Li Yuncai in surprise, thought for a moment and said, "However, most of our employees have the habit of smoking."

"Especially when you are tired from work, you can have a cigarette to refresh yourself and clear your mind. Let's draw a special smoking area and let the workers go there to smoke."

"This is easy. I just put the smoking area next to the fire equipment area."

Li Yuncai immediately gave a solution, because he was also an old smoker and had already thought of a way to deal with it, but he just didn't know how to tell Zhao Tianyang.

“No.”

Zhao Tianyang patted Li Yuncai on the shoulder with admiration: "It seems that you have become a mature deputy factory director. I can concentrate on making weapons in the future."

"Don't worry, Director. Leave all the chores of the Arsenal to me from now on!"

Li Yuncai held his head high and chest puffed out, full of confidence.

A day later, a stream of red molten iron gushed out from the blast furnace outside the newly built arsenal.

"Success."

Although there have been successful precedents, it is also a happy thing that the blast furnace can be built smoothly.

"Look, Director, I told you there wouldn't be any problems."

Chang San put his hands on his hips proudly, he was so arrogant.

"Look at you, you are so arrogant, hurry up and get the mold."

Zhao Tianyang joked.

"okay."

Soon Chang San came over with his apprentices, carrying molds of various sizes.

These moulds are carefully made of clay, so that after the steel is formed, they only need a little polishing before they can be used.

Two hours later, looking at the more than a hundred molds filled with molten iron on the ground, Zhao Tianyang smiled. The next step was to wait.

............

The biggest difficulty in building a qualified cannon is the barrel.

It just so happened that the Japanese's rail steel, after being refined again in a blast furnace, had reached the minimum requirement for making gun barrels.

Seeing the molten iron gradually solidifying and cooling in front of him, Zhao Tianyang ordered Chang San to knock off the mold, take out the solid gun barrel inside, and then take it to the lathe to drill a hole.

"Don't worry, Director. This is just a larger grenade launcher barrel. I have experience drilling grenade launchers. Why would I be afraid that I can't do it? Just wait and see!"

Chang San smiled and patted the big guy weighing more than 400 pounds in front of him and made a promise.

Seeing Chang San so confident, Zhao Tianyang didn't say anything. He waved his hand and told him to do it quickly.

Then Zhao Tianyang found another master blacksmith, Li Tie.

"How about it, is there any solution?"

"This... is difficult!"

Li Tie looked embarrassed holding the drawing in his hand.

"Just tell me if you can do it."

"can!"

Li Tie gritted his teeth and stamped his feet: "As long as the factory director helps, I am confident that I can make the spring."

Hearing this, Zhao Tianyang rolled his eyes speechlessly: "Don't worry, I will participate in the whole process this time."

In order to manufacture a cannon, in addition to the barrel, the recoil mechanism and return mechanism under the barrel are also indispensable.

So the springs had to be manufactured, and fortunately the arsenal could barely meet the technology required to make spring steel.

First, Zhao Tianyang poured the rail steel into the earthen blast furnace for re-refining. After the rail steel was turned into molten iron, he added copper elements according to the proportion.

After complete fusion, appropriate heat treatment is performed to improve hardness and elasticity (quenching and tempering).

Looking at the steel ingot in front of him that was about to cool down, Zhao Tianyang touched his chin.

"Although I don't know what the effect will be, I can only give it a try now. Even if it turns out to be a defective product, it's better than nothing."

"I'll leave it to you now, Master Li. Is that ok?"

"Try it!"

Li Tie replied guiltily.

"Come on, it doesn't matter if you fail, failure is the mother of success!"

Seeing that Li Tie had so little confidence, Zhao Tianyang could only helplessly give him a few words of encouragement.

"Okay, I'll give it a try then."

Li Tie perked up, picked up the mud beside him and started kneading it. He was going to try first to see if he could cast the spring directly.

Seeing this, Li Tie started to work. Zhao Tianyang thought about it, left the arsenal, and ran to the paper mill and alcohol factory to take a look at the various cement buildings inside.

After finding no cracks and testing the hardness again, he returned to his office.

This office was built by Li Yuncai alone. It has a lounge and a separate toilet. Except that it is made of wood and not very warm, everything else is good.

Zhao Tianyang opened the door, lit the brazier, then went to the table and started writing.

As the sun sets, the afterglow of the sunset shines through the window and onto the notebook that Zhao Tianyang is writing.

"The director has eaten."

Li Yuncai walked in holding a big bowl and two steamed buns.

"Come and see this."

Zhao Tianyang took the bowl and motioned Li Yuncai to look at the arsenal plan he had just written on the table.

"The benefits for employees in the arsenal include three meals a day, a meat dish a month, a one-dollar allowance a month, and subsidies based on production performance."

Looking at the book in his hand, Li Yun scratched his head and said, "Isn't it a bit extravagant to guarantee a meat dish every month and give money?"

"And it may be difficult to get this one dollar allowance. We simply don't have that much cash."

You have to know that the previous treatment at their arsenal was three meals a day, including fullness, and three pounds of cornmeal every day, which already made the employees very happy.

Although cornmeal is no longer distributed, money is given! And there is also a subsidy, which is more than the three pounds of cornmeal.

"In the future, the tasks of our arsenal will only become heavier and heavier, and the amount of exercise we do will not be less than that of the soldiers. Lack of nutrition can result in death."

"As for the one dollar allowance... we can give them food of the same value first. Anyway, we should set up the rules first, and then improve them slowly when conditions improve."

"alright."

Li Yuncai nodded and continued to read. He was not a capitalist. Doing things that were good for the workers was exactly what the Communist Party should do.

"What, 200 people, isn't that a bit too many?"

"Not much. The paper mill has 40 people, the alcohol factory has 80 people, the sulfuric acid factory has 60 people, plus the arsenal adds 20 more people. How can it be too much? I still think it's not enough!"

"If the arsenal hadn't just opened and hadn't made any money yet, I would have hired more people."

Zhao Tianyang took a sip of corn paste and retorted incoherently.

"Ok."

Li Yuncai thought that it was indeed time for their arsenal to recruit people.

"No la?"

"That's all I can think of right now. We'll discuss this later, especially regarding rewards and punishments. If you do well, you'll be rewarded. If you don't, you'll be punished."

"I understand this. It's to motivate employees."

Li Yuncai smiled.

"Since you understand, I'll leave it to you..."

"what!"

"Stop it, just do it..."

"Oh."

Li Yuncai returned to his room with a pen and paper in a depressed mood.

.